Stay of execution for Lopetegui?

With his Real Madrid falling to a third consecutive defeat against Levante in their La Liga fixture on Saturday -- the first time they have had such a bad string of results since May 2009 -- speculation about the future of coach Julen Lopetegui reached a fever pitch.

Spanish media largely reported in the hours after the match that a sacking was imminent, while a photo of club president Florentino Perez fiddling with his phone during the La Liga encounter went viral on social media -- with some Real fans even hoping that he was communicating with a replacement.

The hard-to-please Madridistas voiced their displeasure at the Santiago Bernabeu once again, chanting for their players to 'play with balls'. Their discontent was understandable. Real Madrid put them through 481 minutes without a goal in a period that spanned 28 days and has stretched to five games without a win, with a Clasico against Barcelona next weekend.

However, Spain's Cadena SER reported after the match that Lopetegui reportedly had a short meeting with Perez which lasted around 15 minutes with no others present, where the pair reached an understanding that Lopetegui would remain coach at least until the Champions League fixture against Viktoria Plzen on Wednesday. There are no assurances beyond that and reports indicate that Antonio Conte is the favourite to take over while Michael Laudrup and Laurent Blanc are also in consideration.

It was also reported that Perez met with the technical staff and captain Sergio Ramos, but the latter refused to speak on the subject. However, Ramos did publically back Lopetegui after the match.